I know. You’re thinking, “What? What is she talking about?” Houses can’t smile. WHAT?!?

Ah, but they can. Mine does. I can make it smile. It takes some effort, but oh, that smile is so worth it!

So what do I do to get that beautiful smile that truly warms my heart?

My house smiles in response to two simple things I can do to make it light up.

My home smiles when I clean it.

That’s right. My house likes me to clean it. It also has a way of letting me know what it wants me to clean and when. The floors reach a certain degree of grubbiness. The bathrooms start to lose their sparkle. The dust becomes noticeable. It’s like they’re each whispering, “Soon, please! We need a little attention, please!”

Depending on how well I’ve been listening and responding, they don’t usually all whisper at once. But they do whisper. Sometimes they even shout.

I don’t especially like the idea of cleaning my house. It’s not something I wake up in the morning dying to do, and I do have to nudge myself to listen to those messages and take action.

But WOW! It’s so worth it!

Here’s an example:

The other day I put about twenty minutes of elbow grease into cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom. I listened to my favorite podcast while I did it. After a short time, my bathroom was not only smiling—it was practically laughing out loud!

And that made me smile! It made me so happy! Every time I walked into the bathroom, I felt a glow as we smiled at each other.

Even a quick touch-up will make us both happy. Just a little something can bring on that sweet smile. My home is quite patient and understanding, but it does like a bit of attention on an ongoing basis.

Decluttering led us to fall in love for the first time.

 I have learned that my home loves loves loves to be decluttered. When I started to learn about the KonMari Method, my home practically jumped up and down with joy. With each area that I decluttered, that joy got stronger and stronger. And a huge shift came about that I would never have thought possible.

I started to love my home and everything in it. This was huge for me because in the past, when I walked into my house, I was constantly looking for what was wrong, was not quite right, or not up to my expectations. My home did not smile in response. None of us responds well to criticism.

What’s interesting is that I didn’t go out and buy a bunch of new stuff that I like better. Instead, as the KonMari Method suggests, I started to pay attention to how I felt about my things and only kept those that sparked joy. I learned to place them as well as store them in a way that was pleasing.

My home and I are now in love!

It’s all about taking care.

 What I’ve learned through first-hand experience is that when I put care into taking care of my stuff, it makes me feel good. While it may sound crazy, it also appears to me that my stuff responds and supports my life in a different, refreshing way. A more positive feeling is generated that is easy to bring about and that I really enjoy.

Three tips for making it happen

Resistance to doing the things that make your home smile can be intense. As I said, most of us don’t wake up in the morning just dying to clean our home or declutter!

I have three suggestions for something that can help you to push through:

• A tip that I got from James Baraz’s book “Awakening Joy” for shifting your thinking about things that are hard to make yourself do is to say, “Now I get to……” before the task. “Now I get to clean the bathroom” gives a boost and changes your mindset.
• Remember that great feeling you have after cleaning or decluttering and let it motivate you. Pushing through is so worth it, and the anticipation is usually worse than the task.
• Get a friend to support you. Doing something you don’t like always feels less unpleasant when someone is in it with you.

“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose.” Tom Wilson

That quote has a couple of meanings, both of which are true! When it comes to your home, remember that a feeling of happiness could be closer at hand than you think.